Metro recognizes that the most highly-impacted businesses during this crisis are those that would be subject to the food waste requirement. The economic health of these businesses is already threatened, and any changes imposed on their business practices at this time would create additional and unnecessary hardship. In addition, it is in the region’s best interest to focus on maintaining basic essential solid waste services with minimal disruptions, therefore the implementation of a new program at this time is unwise.

Food is the single largest portion of the garbage greater Portland throws away every year. Nearly a fifth of the garbage the region currently sends to landfills is food waste – that's enough to fill 5,000 long-haul trucks. As food decomposes in landfills, it creates methane, a powerful contributor to climate change.

For more than 10 years, Metro and local communities have taken steps to keep food scraps out of landfills and put them to better use. In 2004 a program began to voluntarily collect food scraps from some businesses. Today, the food scraps from participating restaurants, grocery stores and other businesses across the region are converted to compost at facilities near Salem and Corvallis.

Despite these voluntary efforts, a lot more food can be kept out of landfills. In 2016, the Metro Council directed staff to investigate ways to do that. In fall 2017, Metro sought public comment on an initial policy proposal to keep more food scraps from restaurants, grocery stores, and other food service businesses out of landfills and put to better use creating energy, compost or other valuable products.

The comments Metro received, along with guidance from the Metro Council, informed updates to the proposed Metro code language. In July 2018, the Metro Council adopted new code language requiring the largest food service businesses to separate their food scraps from other garbage starting in 2020, and smaller food service businesses will be phased into the policy over the following three years. In October 2018, Metro's chief operating officer signed administrative rules that set requirements for local governments to enforce the collection of food scraps separate from garbage.

Information for businesses

Learn more about the types of businesses and types of materials included in the policy and use an estimation guide to help you estimate the quantity of food scraps your business generates.

On Thursday, July 19, the Metro Council will consider a proposed ordinance that requires the collection of food scraps from certain types of food service businesses. After the policy is proposed, the Council will open the meeting for testimony from the public.

Metro, the Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and several local governments have teamed up to help businesses throw away less food. The initiative, called Food Waste Stops With Me, is part of a larger effort around food waste that may also include requiring some businesses to keep the food they toss out of the garbage.

​In December, the Metro Council will vote on whether to adopt a policy that will require some businesses that process, cook or sell food to keep food scraps out of their trash. Public comment on this proposed mandate begins today.

One in five Oregonians lacks reliable access to nutritious food. At the same time, food, much of which could still be consumed, accounts for nearly a fifth of all garbage in the greater Portland region.

Instead of scraping those onion peels and chicken bones into bins of garbage that end up in a landfill, the scraps at the Grapevine Cafe in Milwaukie go into separate bins, and from there, get turned into compost. It’s something more than 1,000 businesses in greater Portland do, and it’s something Metro Council would like to see more of.

Metro Councilors said Tuesday that they remain interested in finding ways to get more food scraps out of the Portland region's garbage, possibly including requirements that could be phased in over time.

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